Project Alpha
by dockaos
Summary: Ten years after the launch of the Jupiter 2, Doctor Smith returns to Earth under mysterious circumstances.  A young intelligence officer is given the task of uncovering the truth, but that truth may be more threatening than anyone could imagine.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

October 16, 2007

Hot. Damnably so.

Truth be told, it wasn't so much different than the dozens of parched worlds he had visited, except that it was his world and it wasn't supposed to be like this. Even here in the desert, things seemed more desolate than before.

10 years before. It didn't just seem like another lifetime ago – it was.

He half expected the soles of his worn boots to combust as he navigated the two-lane ribbon of blacktop which bisected the landscape. Not a single car had passed since he had met up with the road several hours earlier. Perhaps he was too late.

He stopped to wipe his brow with the sleeve of his velour tunic and thought about timing.

"Too late?", he let go with a rueful laugh. "Too late?"

_The whole world has died and you just happened to arrive too late to drive the final nail in the coffin. Well, Zach, that's just like you. Always snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. You traded the lives of six billion people for this glorious opportunity to take the ultimate walk of shame. Enjoy your trip. Oh, by the way, don't forget to say hello to the Rob-"._

"Be quiet, be quiet, BE QUIET!" He fell to his knees as his eyes misted from anger and regret. "Why can't you just leave me alone? Haven't I paid enough?"

_Not by a long shot, Zach, m'boy! Never fear, Smith is ALWAYS here._

Shaking his head in a vain attempt to cast out the voice, he slowly drew himself up and resumed his journey. Shortly, he spied the remains of an old sign which had been freed from its post by the constant winds. Clearing the sand away from the half buried metal, he was able to make out the blasted lettering:

Government Reserve

Authorized Personnel Only

THIS IS NOT A GREEN ZONE!

USE OF DEADLY FORCE AUTHORIZED!

The term "Green Zone" meant nothing to him, but there was no doubt now that he was on the right path. Nothing to do, but keep moving. As he mounted a small rise, his destination came into view. A high chain link fence crossed the road perhaps a half a mile from his position. Just beyond the fence was a nondescript white cinderblock building. A Jeep was parked beside of the structure. His pace quickened, bolstered by confidence.

He had not covered another hundred yards, when two Jeeps sprang from the dunes to his right. As they approached, it was quite obvious that they represented the "deadly force" aspect of the place. Each vehicle contained one driver and one gunner manning what looked to be enough firepower to stop a squadron of intruders.

"This is a government installation. Identify yourself", came an amplified voice from one of the vehicles as it screeched to a halt just a few yards away.

"Am I correct in assuming that this is Alpha Control?". His need for confirmation was greater than satisfying their need to comply with orders.

The driver of the rightmost vehicle stepped out and leveled a small machine gun at the newcomer. "State your identity. I will not ask again."

_Go ahead, Zach! You can't reason with trained apes. Let 'em in on your big secret. No need for modesty. Their Shiva has returned!_

"I would speak with General Stephen Montgomery. Please let him know that he has a visitor who has traveled many light years to see him."

A bullet struck the pavement mere inches from the point of his boot. Obviously, the soldiers would brook no further discussion.

"Very well", he sighed. "I am Doctor Zachary Smith, at your service."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

October 17, 2007

Major Anthony Griggs' hand fumbled around the nightstand for the phone which had just pulled him from a lush green forest valley back to the four walls he knew so well. He flipped open the device and raised it to his face, still half-buried in a down pillow. The sleep in his voice shone through in spite of his best effort to sound as if he had been waiting for the call.

"This is Major Griggs."

"Code five Romeo. Repeat. Code five Romeo.", the voice on the other end intoned with sterile proficiency. A click signaled the end of the conversation. He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, letting the import of the message sink in. Just as the comfort of his warm bed threatened to release him to Morpheus once more, he threw a leg over the edge and slowly made his way to the shower.

As the heat of the water and the tang of the chemicals used by the recyclers hit him full in the face, a feeling of dread crept into his wakening mind. The message indicated the presence of an unspecified threat to national security. Given his responsibilities with the Intelligence Division of the United Earth Space Probe Agency, such threats could hardly be taken lightly.

UESPA had been formed as an adjunct to the United Nations some seventeen years prior in response to the growing threat posed by population pressures and global warming. The stated goal was to bring the greatest minds of the world to bear on the search for a site for possible colonization. Griggs' contribution to the effort had largely been one of making sure that no one attempted to seize the technology developed by UESPA for personal or national interests. It was a role that he was proud of and one in which he had been received numerous commendations for. Still, he could not shake the feeling that his legacy would be one of ultimate failure.

Since the disappointment of Project Alpha and the subsequent loss of the Jupiter 3 follow-up mission, UESPA had been roundly criticized by the press as a "road to nowhere". Famine had erupted on a global scale, with only the nations of the First World, still managing to keep things in check; remaining just one step ahead of martial law themselves. Water was a precious commodity these days. Despite rising sea levels, inadequate transport methodologies rendered desalination efforts moot in all, but coastal regions.

The Earth was dying.

That was tomorrow. There was a code five Romeo out there that demanded his attention in the present. He quickly finished his morning rituals, donned a freshly pressed uniform and mentally prepared himself for whatever was waiting for him at the end of the short drive to the base.

"Major.", General Strathmore motioned Griggs to take a seat at the conference table. Several other agency personnel and a couple of civilian advisors were already in attendance. Each participant had a blue folder in front of them. Griggs only made out the words on the cover of his copy before the General continued.

Three Rivers Incident Response

"Let's begin. Yesterday, at approximately seventeen thirty, personnel at the Three Rivers installation were alerted to the presence of an unauthorized individual approaching the facility on foot. Security teams were scrambled and the individual was apprehended without incident."

The General paused while he considered his next words. "The individual identified himself as Doctor Zachary Smith, currently attached to the Jupiter 2 mission."

A murmur of whispered voices spread throughout the room as the impossible news was assimilated. Smith had died ten years ago as a result of an accident shortly after the launch of the spacecraft. Something about a high voltage conduit explosion during a final inspection of environmental control equipment.

"The individual in question…", Strathmore raised his voice to signal an end to any satellite conversations. "The individual in question matches the physical description of Doctor Smith, but given the sensitivity of this incident, we must proceed with the utmost caution. I don't want to convey any false hopes until we know what we're dealing with."

"Doctor Price", the General directed his attention to a thirty-something woman seated just to his left. "You will conduct a thorough physical examination of the subject. I want to know if there is the slightest chance we're dealing with an imposter – or worse." , his last words hung menacingly in the air.

"Major Phillips.", a middle-aged man with graying temples looked up from the briefing notes. "Your team will proceed with a complete review of all telemetry from Jupiter 2 up to the point of its disappearance. We haven't looked at that data in a long time. Perhaps a fresh set of eyes will uncovered something we missed."

The General then turned his attention to the end of the table. "Major Griggs. You will be responsible for interrogating the subject. PAMS is already en route to Three Rivers. You will join them and conduct your interview on-site."

Great, Griggs thought to himself. An assignment like this and I'm going to be shadowed by a shrink. The members of the Psychological Assessment And Mission Selection team were difficult, at best, to work with. They held traditional intelligence gathering techniques with disdain, preferring to psychoanalyze their way to the truth.

The last time he was ordered to participate in a joint operation with them, he had nearly came to blows with the team lead. From what little he knew about Dr. Smith, however, they were going to have a field day.

His reverie was interrupted by Strathmore's stentorian tones. "Everyone will find a brief overview of Project Alpha and the Jupiter 2 crew manifest in the folders in front of you. You will also find a directive sheet which will provide additional instructions. I will remind everyone that the information contained herein is Level 1 Non-Disclosure. Thank you for your time."

The audience adjourned silently from the conference room, with Griggs pulling up the rear. Before he could reach the door, the General called for his attention once more.

"Major Griggs? A moment of your time, please."

Griggs was not used to the entreating tone with which his superior officer made the request and inside he jumped to attention in spite of himself."

"Yes, sir?"

The General's face took on a look of grave seriousness and something else. Concern, perhaps?

"Major, your work in the Intelligence Division has been without reproach. You know how to do your job, that's one of the reasons why I requested you for this assignment." Griggs accepted the complement without comment.

"I'm not an expert in information gathering, but I didn't get these stars by misjudging people. That goes for you and doubly for Doctor Smith." Strathmore paused a moment before continuing.

"Smith is an enigma. He founded PAMS and practically wrote the book on psychological factors in deep space environments. He's also, quite possibly, the reason for failure of the Jupiter 2 mission."

This certainly was a day for suprises, Griggs mused. "But, sir, the official report stated that a failure in the ship's navigation subsystem sent the ship off course, likely into a collision with a trans-Neptunian object."

"You certainly know your facts, Major. But facts...", his voice trailed as he turned from Griggs for a moment. "Facts are somewhat subjective in our line of work, wouldn't you agree?"

"I would submit that discretion is sometimes the better part of valor, sir.", Griggs replied, somewhat uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was heading.

"Come now, Major. Let's not mince words. We're consummate liars when we need to be. The greater good and all that. The bottom line is that the official story of the Jupiter 2 mission is only based upon the truth. The ship was thrown off-course, but Smith was the cause."

Griggs offered no response other than stunned silence.

"The Intelligence Division had been monitoring some coded chatter that seemed to be emanating from somewhere at the Three Rivers installation in the weeks leading up to the launch. It wasn't until nearly two years later that we were able to decipher the messages and identify their source."

"Smith, sir?"

Strathmore nodded. "Shortly after launch we discovered that Smith was onboard the Jupiter 2, but came up with the cover story about the explosion. We weren't sure if were we dealing with a genuinely horrible mistake or a case of sabotage. The spooks at NSA went to work on the transmissions. The resulting transcript is in your folder. Smith, it appears, was in the employ of an external faction, referred to by the code name – Aeolus 14 Umbra. It means nothing to anyone in the Intelligence Division or NSA."

Griggs attention drifted for a moment as he digested all that he had learned in such a short span of time. If Smith was responsible for the loss of the Jupiter 2, then by extension he was also responsible for the death of a man who had been directly responsible for who he had become. It made the prospect of interrogating the scientist all the more difficult.

"I know this is not going to be an easy assignment, especially given your friendship with Major West."

The Major was jolted back to the present as he fumbled for a reply. "Yes, uh, sir. Major West sponsored me at the academy."

"He was far more than a sponsor, I gather."

"Yes, sir.", a smile spread across Griggs face as a raft of memories resurfaced. "He was mentor, friend and a rather mischievous big brother of sorts, all rolled into one. My father was his commanding officer for a time when we were stationed in Germany. Sometimes when my mother and I would visit the base, Major West would let me sit in the cockpits of the F-117s. Of course, that was against every reg in the book, but that was the Major for you. When my father passed away, the Major endorsed me for admission to the academy and made sure I kept my nose clean – most of the time."

The recollection brought a rare smile to the Strathmore's usually stern visage. Almost a fast as it had appeared, however, his normal countenance returned.

"That's the other reason why I want you to conduct the interrogation."

Griggs failed to follow the logic, "Begging the General's pardon, but aren't you concerned about my ability to be impartial?"

"I need to know everything and I mean everything about this person. Is he a fraud and if so, why go to the trouble of impersonating a scientist everyone believes is dead? If he is Smith, does he have intel that might prove vital to the future of humanity? Can he tell us the fate of the Jupiter 2 crew? Is Major West still alive?"

"I find that people work harder when they have a little skin in the game, don't you agree, Major?"

"I suppose so, sir." Griggs accepted his commanding officer's reasoning, but it did not might him any more comfortable about the assignment. There were still too many pieces of the puzzle that didn't add up. Was another shoe filled with clandestine information about to drop?

Even with what little Griggs knew about Smith's background, it did not seem that a scientist with his credentials could have been willingly pulled into such a plot. Hopefully, the dossier would provide some clues as to how he should proceed. He needed to gain a working theory of Smith's motives, but nothing came to mind.

"One more thing, Major - be careful. Smith is an expert in finding out what makes people tick. Don't let him turn the tables on you. Dismissed."

A dead man, a missing ship and end of the world as we know it. Could this day get any more exciting?


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

October 17, 2007

Griggs left Strathmore's briefing with more than a trace of bewilderment. Granted, misdirection and cover-ups were the stock-in-trade of intelligence circles. That being the case, it was difficult to comprehend when even the intelligence staffers were in the dark about the details.

He walked the short distance to the break room to grab a cup of coffee before catching the military transport to White Sands, from which a private car would take him to the Three Rivers facility. The flight was not scheduled to depart for a couple of hours, so he sequestered himself into a booth in a corner to review the dossier on Smith.

Doctor Zachary Smith was a relatively late addition to Project Alpha, having joined the mission twelve months before the scheduled launch. He had previous served as Director General of PEAK, a post he had held since founding the division eight years prior. His record was, to say the very least, impressive. Having graduated with honors from Stanford University with a Ph D. in Experimental Psychology, he quickly attracted the attention of NASA. The subject of his doctoral thesis, "Considerations of Long-Term Space Travel on Crew Selection and Operational Dynamics", virtually guaranteed him a spot in their Life Sciences organization.

It was at NASA that he met Doctor Rachael Gardner, a brilliant biologist who was conducting groundbreaking work in the area of hibernation, with an eye towards the developing a practical means of achieving suspended animation in humans. Smith joined her in this effort, bringing his knowledge gathered in attempting to understand the mind-brain interface to bear in this most important work.

The two were inseparable, both in the lab, which seemed to constitute the bulk of their existence, and even in their rare hours away. They seemed to be the Yin to each other's Yang. Smith's obsessive, driven and sometime intellectually imposing figure contrasted with Gardner's down-to-earth, relaxed and kind demeanor. If opposites ever did attract, their relationship was exhibit number one. It should have come as no surprise to anyone when they announced their plans for marriage some two years later.

At some point, they managed to find time for a son, Phillip. While the official record gave no indication of the state of Smith's home life, the annual psychological profiles required of everyone with direct involvement in the space program provided subtle clues. In the first evaluation, dated August 17, 1984, the reviewer made note of Smith's, "…single minded pursuit of his goals, to the exclusion of all other external contact." In contrast, an evaluation conducted seven years later referred to his "…authoritative, yet open presence which bolsters enthusiasm, creativity and camaraderie among his colleagues."

Didn't sound like the same man. Griggs pulled a photo from the folder which showed the Rachael Smith and a yardful of colleagues calmly enjoying a summer barbecue; while Zachary chased Phillip through a lawn sprinkler in the background.

By the late eighties, the second Dust Bowl had awakened the United States and the world to the realities of global warming. Governments began pouring millions of dollars into research which could produce cleaner burning fuels and more efficient farming methods. Many scientists, however, considered such efforts futile, stating that changes could not be implemented rapidly enough to stave off the deaths of thousands due to starvation. The real solution, they suggested, was finding a new home in space.

Zachary and Rachael redoubled their efforts to find a means to make long space journeys a survivable reality. In 1992, their hard work paid off with the six month stasis of a simian test subject who was revived with no ill effects. Shortly thereafter, a human subject was placed in suspended animation for two weeks. The benefits of their research reached far beyond the walls of NASA as thousands of patients awaiting organ donations were given a new lease on life.

The Smiths seemingly had it all, a great family life, the praise of the colleagues, fame and a modest fortune.

A sip of lukewarm coffee broke Griggs' intense interest in the dossier's contents. Stealing a quick look at his watch, he was surprised to find that an hour and a half had escaped him. He quickly put the folder away in his briefcase and made his way to the boarding area, now even less sure that he could reconcile the man in the photo with the traitor that he was shortly to meet.


End file.
